Moist-hot-air bath



July 19, 1927.

P. R. WILDE MOIST HOT AIR BATH Original Filed March 5. 1926 PatentedJuly 19, 1927.

llNITED' STATES PERCY ROBERTS WILDE, or BATH, ENGLAND.

MoIs'r-Ho'r-Am BATH.

Application filed March 5, 1926', Serial No. 92,533, and in GreatBritain March 17, 1925. Renewed m This invention relates to hot airbaths and by a pipe 7 and admitted into the said re has for its objectto provide an improved bath for the pyretic treatment of patientswhereby the patient is enve oped in a warm moist atmosphere, incontradistinction to the hot dry air of a Turkish bath or the directapplication of course steam as in the Russian or vapour baths, andmainly consists in providing a casing or cover, which can be placed overany desired part of the patients body whilst lying, or reclining, on acouch, bed or the like, the said casing, or cover, having receptacles,longitudinally arranged therein into which steam is ad mitted from aboiler situated at a lower level than the bottoms of the saidreceptacles, the said receptacles being so adapted that the bulk of thesteam admitted thereto is condensed and the water of condensation flows,by gravity, back to the said boiler and the remaining, or. some of theremaining steam passes through perforations in the said receptacles intothe interior of the said casing, or cover.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of a vapor bathconstructed according to this invention. Fig. 2 is a cross-section,taken on the line 22 in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a plan view, from below, ofthe bath. From the drawings the nature and scope of this invention willbe readily understood, it being understood, however, that the inventionis not limited to the precise construction hereinafter described andshown in the accompanying drawing as modifications may be made withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention.

According to this invention the bath consists of an open bottom casing,or cover 1. of metal, or other suitable material, having one end 2 alsoopen so that the said casing, or cover, can be placed over any desiredpart of the patients body that is to be subjected to treatment Whilstthe patient is lying, or reclining, on a couch, bed or the equivalent.Secured, in any suitable manner, to the inner side of each of thelongitudinal sides 3 of the said bath and extending the greater part ofthe length thereof is a receptacles 4 of narrow width relatively to itsheight. The bottom of each of the receptacles 4: inclines downwards fromthe open end 2 to the closed end 5 of the said casing, or cover, andsteam, which may be generated in a boiler such as shown at 6, isconveyed ceptacle at its lowest part as shown in Figure 1, from whichsome of it escapes through perforations 8 formed in the inner side ofthe saidreceptacles, at, or towards, the bottom thereof, into theinterior of the said casing,

or cover. I V

In order to obtain the proper conditions for working it is essentialthat the boiler 6 supplying the steam be on a lower level than thecasing, or cover, 1, and that the pipes 7 conveying the steam from thesaid boiler to the receptacles t slope upwards from the said boiler tothe bottom of the saidreceptacles so that water of condensation can flowfrom the said receptacle through the said pipes back to the said boilerwhere it is again converted into steam and as such is returned to thesaid receptacles 4. By this means an efficient circulatory heatingsystem is obtained, so that the bath can be continuously heated with aminimum supply of water.

When in use the casing, or cover 1 is placed so that the body of thepatient lying, or reclining, on a couch, or bed, is covered, thepatients feet being towards the closed end 5 of the said cover, orcasing. Blankets, or other covering, may, if desired, be then placedover the casing, or cover 1 and between the 'open end 2 thereof and thepatient, and steam is admitted to the receptacles 4 which causes them tobe heated and the bull: of the admitted steam to be condensed which thenflows down the inclined bottom of each of the said receptacles andreturns by gravity through the pipes 7 to the boiler 6. Some of thesteam admitted to the receptacles 4 passes through the perforations 8therein into the interior of the casing, or cover 1 and this steamhaving been deprived of its coarser particles and submitted to the heatof the said receptacles is so finely divided as to be invisible to theeye and in this condition it mixes freely with the air beneath thecasing, or cover, and so produces that warm moist heat which it is theobject of the bath to accomplish.

By the employment of a moist air bath in accordance with my invention,although steam is used both to heat the bath and also to moisten the airwithin it there is no visible steam either within or outside the casing,or cover 1 during use, and this absence of steam is of great importancewhen the treatment is given on the bed in Which the pareceptacles at,any suitable guard, or guards may be provided, for instance, this may beeffected by securing strips 9 of non-heat conducting material along theinner side of each of the said receptacles as shewn. The strips 9 areshewn secured to battens 10 which are in turn secured tot-he casing orcover 1 in such manner as to leave a space between the said strips andthe inner sides of each of the receptacles 4.

Having now described my invention what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is 1. In a portable vapor bath, a framechannel-shaped in cross-section and having converging sides and beingopen at its bottom and at its larger end and adapted to be stood overthe limb of a patient, inclined receptacles for steam secured at thesides of the frame and provided with perforations in their inner sides,and means for supplying steam to and draining off water from the saidreceptacles connected to their lower ends, said lower ends beingarranged at the smaller and closed end of the frame. 2. A portable vaporbath as set forth in claim 1, and having also strips ofnon-heatconducting material spaced apart and extending over the innersides of the said receptacles, and battens which support the said stripsin position in the frame.

' In witness whereof I affix my signature' PERCY ROBERTS VVILDE.

